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Jason Zweig at the Wall Street Journal published a disturbing article that deserves more attention. The basic story is this. A number of banks sold a complex financial product to retail investors who have subsequently lost quite a bit of money. Here is the basic pitch that was apparently made to individual investors in 2012. You are going to buy an investment product that is currently invested in bonds and is producing 8% in income per year. The performance of this product is tied to the stock price of Apple, however. In exchange for the high income, you take on the risk of a decline in Apple’s stock price. These products were sold when Apple stock was soaring, so a fair number of people apparently saw this as a favorable bet. With the stock down more than 30% from its peak, many of these investors have lost a considerable amount of money. Read Zweig’s piece for more details. These products have a number of variations and he discusses one specific structure. Here is another. The title of Zweig’s article, How Apple Bit Bondholders, Too, gives the impression that bonds were responsible for these losses. This is not the case, but the title serves to illustrate the subtlety of the problem. Continue reading →

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